One note on WN: you can actually get a free ticket after two roundtrips if you have to travel through a connecting city, but book your trip as two separate roundtrips on the website:
Ex: LAX-OAK-SEA RT is 4 credits on one ticket but LAX-OAK RT and OAK-SEA RT is 8 credits if issued separately for the same fare and travelling on the same aircraft!
You can get a companion pass for 12.5 RTs.

US Airways
Best:1) Great sucess domestic First class upgrades and plenty of upgrades already on the Gold 50.000 miles level
2) 2 Systemwide upgrades for free which you can use on all published fares for upgrading

Worst:1)No alliance! No alliance! No alliance!!
Therefore no club acess outside of the US even when flying US Airways not to talk about the non existent partners
2)No way to upgrade all the cheap and medium fares to Business class with miles on the european flights which is possible on american

[This message has been edited by eurousair (edited 12-08-2001).]

US:

Pro:
1. Easiest domestic upgrades for any US airline. I'm Gold (2nd tier) and have always been in F, without exception, for the last 18 months. My wife, who flies more for business, has only been denied upgrades on major business routes at peak times (very few instances). For every 20K flown domestically, US gives Golds 18K in upgrade certificates.
2. SWU for every elite level

Cons:
1. No Alliance and current partners are decreasing.
2. Concerns about the viability of the airline.

Additional Note:
Historically, US' domestic cabin service and amenities have been a step above other domestic carriers. Current cutbacks have been much deeper than with other airlines. US now has the lowest level of catering and the fewest onboard amenities of all major domestic airlines. At current levels, they probably should start painting Greyhound on their aircraft.

JL

Best: Mileage pool for three generation for residents in the US.

Worst: Miles expiring in two years. Limits giving awards to family members.

For US Airways:

BEST:
Terrific upgrade rate for even lowest elite tier - 90% success for Sliver Preferred; SWUs are also unbeatable

WORST:
Dividen Miles is the Incredible Shrinking FF Program with no alliance partner, no more AA, and doubt about Swissair and Sabena. LatinPass does not cut it.

Best Program: US Airways

Best Feature: Unlimited upgrades for Chairman's Preferred & companion.

Con: Lack of partners. Non-automated upgrades (you have to call and ask.) Lousy coffee. Only 2 SWUs for top tier (the 2 companion certs don't count).

Other notable positives: "Personal Liason's" are superb. Great treatment from staff all around -- ticket counter, gate, flight attendants etc.

CO's Best Feature: Automatic upgrades. Great (domestic) 1st class menu is a close second.

CO Worst: You have to fly on an old, dark and gloomy Boeing fleet -- even the brand new planes feel like they've been left out in the rain somewhere near Detroit for 30 years. The most uncomfortable 1st class seats in the US.

NW Best: Automatic upgrades.

NW Worst: Nothing notable springs to mind.

Nowthwest

Best : 1. Unlimited domestic upgrades for all elite levels
2. Internet check-in 24 hrs. prior to departure


Worst : No segment upgrades for international routes

Posting for US

Pro: NAU is good for 800 miles

Con: No flights to Pacific/Asia

DL:

DL
Best:
GM's receive 8-800 mile segments for every 10,000 miles.

PM's get free CRC membership.

PM's can upgrade domestic flights at time of booking (except LUser fares).

Web site posts miles the same day that the trip is completed on DL metal flights.

Great employees at lower and middle management levels.

Companion upgrades with NAMU's.

Worst:
Simply Good Business

LUser fares

Loss of SWU's for GM's & FO's. PM's capped at 6 a year no matter how many miles they fly.

Lack of available upgrade inventory in B/E for international flights even though the cabins have many empty seats on the day of departure.

Lack of same day gate upgrades for international flights. A disgrace!

Not being able to exchange 800 mile segments for miles (especially affects DL customers who mainly fly international).

Not being able to speak directly to the Skymiles Center. You have to deal with a SMS agent that speaks to the center. A total waste of time and manpower.

Constantly getting form letter responses to valid complaints without your problem being answered.

Upper management is totally out of touch with the needs of their Medallion customers.

Not having lounge access with their Skyteam partners for GM's & FO's even if you belong to the CRC. Also not having a CRC at CDG which is their major hub in Europe.

Cattle car seating in Y on all DL planes.

NAMU's are on an annual calendar not a rolling calendar.




------------------

Best:
BA family plan...all miles into 1 account....great for building a Concorde trip.

Worst:
Anything to do with American West Air.

Ripe for a come back:
UA Put more FC seats on the 737 and roll things back to 1985.

CO best: Unlimited domestic upgrades.

CO worst: Mileage UG on int'l flights only on H,K,Y fares.

Southwest:

Best
(1) Free roundtrip for every four round-trips purchased online.
(2) Drink coupons (enough for four beers/wines) sent with each reward ticket.
(3) No penalty for changing or cancelling flights.

Worst
(1) Blackout dates on reward tickets. (That's much more typical of the so-called "Major Airlines" than Southwest.)
(2) Longer trips and shorter trips earn the same amount of credit.

Northwest

(There's a list)

1. Unlimited domestic upgrades.
2. On-line check in and boarding passes.
3. Generous bonus miles for higher tiers of elite.
4. Partner airline seemless upgrades (Continental).
5. On line reservation system relatively easy to use, both for paid and award travel.
6. Automatic upgrade processing and email notification.
7. Upgrades primarily designated for passengers, not employees.

Worst (There's a list)

1. No ff miles on cybersaver tickets.
2. Very difficult to get international upgrades, and accompanying fare structure restrictions.
3. Airline schedule doesn't match business travel needs, particularly since 9/11.
4. Inflexibility overall of gate/elite/reservation agents as relates to non-traveller caused disruptions. (Again reference 9/11 disruptions, Atlanta airport shutdown, etc.)
5. Steadily declining quality level of air travel in all classes of service. (meals, elite boarding, etc.)
6. Steady but noticeable increase in first class seat hold-backs.
7. Inconsistent process for gate screening; unavailability of screeners, placement of screening and boarding passengers together, etc.


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Marriott: Best part their old program, Worst part: Getting worse with postings.

Hilton: Best Part all the 50,000 promotions, and Double Dip
Worst Part: Car Rental Bonus doesn't post

Starwood: Best part really giving loads of points away with the promotions
Worst part no offpeaks awards or point strechers

[This message has been edited by milesrus (edited 12-11-2001).]